Corteco's Milan, Ohio Facility Wins Nissan 2002 Quality Master Award

PLYMOUTH, Mich., May 6, 2003 -- Corteco's Milan, Ohio facility was recently honored with Nissan North America's 2002 Quality Master Award for its performance.

Nissan's rating is based on a year-long evaluation of the supplier's systems, incoming quality, response time, cost reduction capability, design support, timely shipments, product performance and complexity, warranty and Nissan's vehicle evaluation system.

"Corteco and the Milan associates are dedicated to providing customers with zero-defect, world-class products," said Phillip A. Damaska, Freudenberg- NOK CEO, Distributed Products Group. "This award serves as a testament to our role as the Technology Specialist and our continued commitment to providing quality products and service to Nissan."

The Milan distribution center is one of two facilities dedicated to Corteco, Freudenberg-NOK's automotive aftermarket business. The distribution center supplies single-point packaged replacement components to Nissan dealerships and aftermarket retailers.

In addition, the facility ships 2.3 million engine kits per year under the Corteco name, and 4.5 million transmission kits and 1.6 million power steering kits per year under the TransTec name (a Corteco product line), covering virtually all vehicles sold in North America. It also distributes more than 120 million pieces of oil seal and custom-molded products annually. The 258,000-square-foot facility employs more than 300 associates and is ISO 9001 certified.

Through a global network of facilities spanning 27 countries with some 25,000 automotive employees worldwide, the supplier group offers its automotive customers globally integrated products, including sealing packages for transmissions, engines, brakes, axles and steering, NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) components and packages, and all rubber, plastic and PTFE components for suspension, electrical and fuel systems.

The global Freudenberg and NOK Group also offers an extensive portfolio of precision-molded products for the aerospace, appliance, business machine, fluid power, marine, medical, off-highway equipment and recreational vehicle markets.

For more information, visit Corteco's web site at www.corteco-usa.com and the Freudenberg-NOK web site at www.freudenberg-nok.com .

http://www.freudenberg-nok.com